


To Friendships Had

by Zi_Night



Series: Elia Week [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Elia Fests, Elia Martell Centric, Gen, POV Elia Martell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26823655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zi_Night/pseuds/Zi_Night
Summary: Day 4: FriendsTo friendships had and to the one that could have been."She is vaguely aware of the only daughter of House Stark. She made it a point to remember all the daughters of the noble houses of Dorne and all the daughters of the Great Houses. The two easiest alliances for a woman to make were through marriage and through friendship, so she always made a note of potential friends."
Relationships: Elia Martell & Arthur Dayne, Elia Martell & Jaime Lannister, Elia Martell & Mellario, Elia Martell & Rhaella Targaryen
Series: Elia Week [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950721
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	To Friendships Had

1\. Arthur

She meets Arthur during her and Oberyn’s progress through Dorne. Starfall is one of the last stops on their progress, with it being the farthest castle from Sunspear. Even after all the travel that was necessary for a procession, she is still excited to arrive in Starfall. Starfall was one of the most fascinating castles of Dorne, the castle built on a falling star, and that mysticism made her giddy.

Starfall is a beautiful castle, living up to its dreamy reputation. The castle sits on the top of a hill and overlooks the clear waters of Sunset Bay. The castle is made out of pristine white stone and is full of purple, stained glass windows that reflect soft lavender light into its hallways. The castle is also surrounded by gardens full of fragrant flowers and petals are blowing in the wind when they arrive.

But as much as she loves the stories of Starfall, she is also excited to arrive because she has heard that the Dayne siblings are similar to her own siblings. There was an older sibling, whose name always slipped her mind, who wasn’t as old as Doran but was older than his siblings and two younger siblings who were only a year apart, like her and Oberyn. She hadn’t heard much about the Dayne siblings, but she was hoping to meet someone near her own age who she could get along with.

She learns to dislike the heir of House Dayne rather quickly. When she first meets the man, there is a falseness to him that makes her uneasy. His compliments come on too heavy and his politeness reads too forced. But the thing that truly bothered her was how other people reacted to him. The servants of Starfall were too wary of their future lord for her to feel comfortable around him and his siblings avoided the man too much for her to ever truly care about the man.

That being said, his siblings were absolutely delightful. Ashara oozed charisma but was still every bit a little sister. The girl was mischievous and lively and just generally fun to be around. Every interaction she had with Ashara was made better just by the other girl’s presence and she looked forward to getting to know the woman she grew into.

Arthur was significantly more subdued than his sister but earnest in a way that was charming and overall easy to like. He was kind, didn’t have an overinflated sense of pride, and was thoughtful about what he did and how he did it. She and Arthur had clicked almost instantly over the shared exasperation of having a younger sibling that tried to get you to laugh inappropriately in public. They had also bonded over their shared love of stories, a similar sense of romanticism, and a shared sense of responsibility.

Because Starfall is their last stop in their progress, they spend longer in this castle than they had in all the others. It means that she had time to get to know the Daynes. To learn that Arthur was a prodigy in all this related to knighthood and that his brother resented him for it. To learn that Ashara only liked to embroider if she had someone to embroider with and that Arthur had learned to embroider with her because of that. That Ashara did not make much of an attempt to hide her dislike of her oldest brother and vice versa. Still, with all she knew about the Daynes there was always something else to learn.

Oberyn, the viper that he was, would not last in Starfall if he was not allowed to fight against someone. As the closest one to Oberyn in age, and as one of the best fighters in Starfall, that responsibility falls to Arthur. They duel whenever Oberyn is feeling the itch to fight. Sometimes it is with spears, other times it is with swords, and on one memorable occasion daggers. No matter what they fight with her brother never wins. Oberyn gets the closest he gets to winning with spears, but Arthur managed to edge into a victory every time.

After one of those matches, she leaves her brother to lick his wounds and approaches Arthur. “You don’t let Oberyn win.”

The other boy doesn’t look up from where he is putting away his equipment, disciplined in a way Oberyn is not. “I don’t,” he answers simply.

She isn’t bothered by what could be read as a taciturn answer. She had long learned that Arthur preferred to be straight forward when answering questions, a part of her suspected that he did it so that it was more impactful when he was verbose. “It might make him like you more if you let him win.”

“I think he likes me just fine. Even if I don’t let him win.” He isn’t _wrong,_ but that’s how most nobles tried to get them to like them, by giving them what they though they wanted. Any other lord’s child would have tried to give Oberyn a fight but ultimately let Oberyn beat them in the hopes that it would endear her brother to them.

“Still, why don’t you let him win?” It would have been easy in their last match. Oberyn had managed to get Arthur to take his dominant hand off his sword. It would have been easy to simply yield the match and give her brother the win. Instead Arthur had shown them he was just as skilled with his left hand as his right and had capitalized on Oberyn pre-celebrating his victory.

“It wouldn’t be fair.”

If said by anyone else she might scoff at the statement. For most people, fairness was rarely a thing they considered when making decisions. But she finds that she believes it when Arthur says it. There is just something about him, a sincerity that can be found in everything he does. She finds it endearing. “You’re right, it wouldn’t be fair.”

2\. Mellario

When Doran went to Essos, he wrote them all letters as frequently as he could. Sometimes it meant that they would get a letter every week. Sometimes it meant that they would get a letter every handful of months. It all depended on where her brother was at the time.

When Doran was in Novos, they received very few letters, but every letter spoke of a noblewoman named Mellario. In his letters to their mother, Doran wrote about how this noblewoman was acting as his guide in the city and how she was teaching him about their culture. In his letter to their brother, Doran mentioned Mellario in passing; Doran would mention something in the city he thought Oberyn would like and it would come with a note that Mellario was the person who initially showed it to him. However, the letters Doran wrote to her were full of mentions of Mellario.

She got the same little mentions the rest of her family did. The passing mentions of the places Mellario took him to that he thought she would like and the fuller mentions of a story Mellario told him about the city’s history. But he also described the woman to her. Doran would go into detail about how when Mellario laughed it was with her whole body, how she would toss her head back and cover her mouth with her hand. About the wigs and dresses the woman would wear and how she seemed to match her appearance to how she was feeling. About how eloquent she was and how he found himself hanging onto every word she said. About how lively she was, how she seemed to radiate energy around her and how he always finds himself circling back to her like a moth to a flame.

It was well known that she was the romantic in the family. That her favorite stories were the ones where people fell in love and found a way to stay in love even though things around them tried to tear them apart. She wasn’t bothered by Doran using her letters to wax poetic about this woman, Mother was the one he wrote general updates to and she would always share those with her and Oberyn, but even she was embarrassed by how lovesick her older brother was.

When she gets the letter from Doran to float the idea of him marrying this woman to their mother, she is not surprised. If anything, she is surprised that it takes her brother so long to make this request and relieved that she won’t be receiving anymore yearning letters. She informs mother of Doran’s wish the only way a little sister should, by walking into her mother’s office, dumping a sheaf of letters on her desk, and asking to be put out of her misery. Mother agrees to the match and a few months later they are all bursting at the seams waiting for the couple to arrive.

Still, as much as she wants to gush when Doran and Mellario arrive, she does her best not to overwhelm the woman. She is pleasant and polite and makes sure to intervene whenever Oberyn asks questions that are too probing, all of which is easy because it seems like the woman does love her brother. She can see it in the looks they share, in the way they speak to each other, and in the way that they are always in contact.

During the celebrations before the wedding, Mellario pulls her aside. Mellario is wearing a vivid yellow dress and her hands are dark from the paste that has been applied to her palms. Around them there is music and women dancing, but Mellario pulls her into a curtained corner that is quieter than the main room.

“Mellario, is everything alright?” She is breathless from all the dancing she has been a part of, but she tries to compose herself for what seems like a serious conversation.

“Yes, yes. I just,” Mellario makes an attempt to grab her hands, but then remembers that she shouldn’t be using her hands. Mellario shakes her head, making her jewelry lightly jingle, before saying, “I just wanted to thank you. Dorne is so different from Norvos but your family has done so much to make sure I am comfortable here. _You_ have done so much to make sure I am comfortable.”

“Always. What are sisters for?”

3\. Rhaella

The first time she learns of Queen Rhaella it is not from a tutor, but from her mother. Her mother loved telling stories, especially her own. Her stories of her time as a lady in waiting were almost always of herself, Lady Joanna, and Queen, then princess, Rhaella. True to form, her mother was always the face of the group, talking them out of and in to trouble. Lady Joanna was the organizer of the group, the cold cunning who made sure their plans went through without issue. Rhaella had been the princess locked in a tower who was excited for any sort of freedom.

Fittingly, the first time she meets Queen Rhaella it is at her mother’s side. They had been invited to the Red Keep for some ‘womanly business’ and even though the reason for the invitation had been vague, her mother could not resist meeting an old friend. Upon arriving at King’s Landing, they are immediately taken to see the queen who is just as happy to see her mother as her mother is to see her.

Sadly, it doesn’t take long for her and her mother to learn that Queen Rhaella was still a princess locked in a tower, though this time it was more literal. They suspect something odd is happening when they are given rooms in Maegor’s Holdfast instead of the Grand Hall, the place where visitors were usually given rooms. When her mother jokes about going down to visit one of their old haunts in King’s Landing, Rhaella informs them that she isn’t allowed to leave the Red Keep. When her mother talks about going down to the gardens, Rhaella quietly admits that she is not allowed to leave the holdfast. When her mother asks how Prince Viserys is doing, a knight of the Kingsguard is called in to supervise the meeting. Every day they spend with Queen Rhaella paints a tragic picture. Still, just because Rhaella is not allowed out of the castle, it doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy some of the things King’s Landing has to offer.

Being a princess means that she has the authority to make things happen the way she wants them to happen. With some very charming needling, she manages to convince Lord Commander Hightower to assign Arthur as her guard whenever she goes down to the city. With Arthur by her side, they go through the city trying to find the best shops in the city. The allowance her mother gave her is spent on food and jewelry and whatever else she thinks would make a nice gift.

Every afternoon, Arthur takes her back to the holdfast and no one even attempts to question her bounty. Almost all of those items are gifts and a majority of those gifts are for Queen Rhaella. Rhaella appreciates the books and the jewelry, but she thinks the things that truly endear the queen to her is the food. She made a point of thinking back to the stories her mother told her and tries to see if those locations still exist. She brings back wine from a vineyard Lady Joanna favored, she brings back tarts from a bakery her mother had raved about, fresh made bread from a place that can be smelled from the entrance of the Red Keep, a pot pie from a little kitchen hidden between storefronts, and anything else she can find.

After one of these deliveries, Rhaella gently catches her wrist. “Princess Elia, if you would be so kind as to sit with your mother and I.” She smooths her skirts down and sits down next to her mother. She’s aware that her mother and Rhaella had been talking about something but she had not expected to be included in these talks.

After she sits down, Queen Rhaella clears her throat. “Your mother and I have been discussing a potential marriage between you and my son Rhaegar.”

“Oh.” It explained quite a bit about some of the oddness about this visit. It explained why she had seen Rhaegar everyday she was here. Of why she was seated next to him during dinners, of how she seemed to run into him when she was wandering through the castle, of the nasty looks Cersei Lannister had been sending her when she was in the same room as the girl.

“You are a good woman, Elia. A daughter that would make any mother proud.” Rhaella reaches out to grab her hands. “I will be the first to admit that my son is brooding and serious, but I promise you that my son is nothing like his father. He will not do to you what has been done to me. I would not condemn someone to this fate, much less the daughter of a dear friend.” Rhaella squeezes her hands. “Much less to someone who has shown me such kindness.”

4\. Mira

Doran puts Mira into her service right before she leaves Dorne. She doesn’t want to leave Dorne, but if she doesn’t leave soon she’ll reach the point in her pregnancy where she won’t be able to leave and, as bothered as she was by Rhaegar in the moment, she knew it was wrong to deny him the chance to be there for the birth of their second child. Still, she didn’t want to do this, so she leaves all the details of her travel to Doran and, apparently, her travel plans included a wet nurse.

Before she meets Mira, Doran pulls her aside and tells her to be gentle with the girl because Mira wasn’t necessarily a wet nurse by choice but by tragedy. Once she meets the girl, she doesn’t think the warning was truly needed. Mira is a waif of a girl, too young to have suffered the death of a child, with red watery eyes and a whisper of a voice. If allowed, she fears that Mira would fade away on the ship.

So she seeks Mira out. She invites Mira to eat with her, has her embroider with her, and asks Corissa to check in on the girl. In the time it takes them to reach Dragonstone, Mira loses the redness in her eyes and grows more confident, but still blushes when she addresses her directly. She appreciates Mira’s company but she isn’t sure how much she’ll need a wet nurse.

She had exclusively nursed Rhaenys after her daughter was born. It was tradition in Dorne that mothers nurse their own children as much as possible, no matter what status. The Rhoynar had believed that the action was a necessary part of bonding with a newborn, that handing off that responsibility should only happen in dire circumstances. There was even a story that when Princess Nymeria was offered a wet nurse after the birth of her first daughter, the princess had responded with a simple “But I am here.”

Still, it seemed like her older brother’s foresight held true. Aegon’s birth had been messy and leaves her in bed recovering, it leaves her in need of a wet nurse. Mira cedes feeding Aegon to her whenever she feels able, but Mira still does most of the feeding. She appreciates the assistance, she would never want her child to suffer because she was incapable, but there is something odd about sharing the responsibility.

She spends so much of her time sitting in bed now. It’s not like she can’t get out of it but it was terribly frustrating to get out of bed and then not be able to get back in it. To her pride, no amount of sunshine was worth the humiliation of being carried back to her bed. She is reading in her bed, an activity she finds herself doing more and more, when Mira comes into her room with Aegon in her arms. “Is something the matter?”

“It is time for the little prince to nap, Princess.” Mira walks over with Aegon but seems to read the confusion on her face. “He sleeps better when he is around you.”

“Oh.”

Mira tucks Aegon into the sheets next to her. Her son kicks her in the thigh before balling up the blankets next to him. Mira builds the boy a barricade so that he doesn’t roll off the bed before taking a step back. Mira hesitates by the edge of her bed and asks, “Princess Elia, if I may speak freely?”

“Of course, Mira.”

“I’m from Dorne too.” Mira isn’t looking at her when she starts speaking. Instead the girl looks away from her, her face flushed. “Born and raised near Lemonwood. I know our traditions. I know this isn’t what mothers dream of when they dream of having children.”

She reaches out to grab Mira’s wrist. “Mira, I don’ blame you for this. I am very grateful that you are here to help me.”

“I know. You are too kind to blame me.” Mira brings her other hand around to hold her hand. “I’m sure you know I love your son, but know that he loves you. I could nurse him for the rest of his life and he would still remember you. Your boy knows who his mother is.”

5\. Jaime

Before she and her children are called back as hostages to King’s Landing, in Aerys’s desperate attempt to force Rhaegar to come back to the city, her impression of Jaime Lannister is a piecemeal one, made up of the one time she met him and the things she has heard of him. The Jaime Lannister she remembers from her trip to Casterly Rock was a boy, small and golden like a cherub. He had also been a bit sullen and distant, only coming to life when his sister was torturing their poor younger brother. It wasn’t that surprising, considering his mother had just died, but the boy had been sweet even in that distant state and it was a shame she hadn’t had the chance to see him with more life in him.

Aside from the golden cherub of her childhood, she knows Ser Jaime. She knows of Ser Jaime almost solely through Arthur. When she hears that her friend has knighted someone she begs Arthur to tell her the story. Arthur spares no detail in his retelling of their encounter with the Kingswood Brotherhood and she finds herself completely entranced by the story. Even with all that detail, she finds herself impressed when Arthur suggests that she keep an eye on Jaime because he has the makings of an impressive knight. Arthur was known for being modest in his praise and, what might have been a passing praise from anyone else, spoke volumes of how much potential Arthur saw in Jaime.

Even knowing that, she finds herself surprised when Jaime’s name comes up as a replacement for the open spot in the Kingsguard. She isn’t the only one disgruntled with Jaime’s promotion. “It is a shame,” Arthur told her after they had watched Aerys knight Ser Jaime into the Kingsguard, “if this had happened years from now there would be no question that he deserved his spot in the Kingsguard. But now, Aerys has made it so that everyone will always question whether he actually deserved the position.” But, even with his promotion, she doesn’t get to truly interact with Jaime until long after the tourney.

Being forced back into the Red Keep had hurt her pride. It was obvious that Aerys was hoping that using her and her children as hostages would bring Rhaegar back. A part of her wanted to shake Aerys until he understood that Rhaegar would not come back for them. Another part of her felt guilty for thinking that her husband had abandoned them. Everyday Rhaegar didn’t come back left her feeling more and more agitated.

With her not being able to leave the Red Keep there is little for her to do. Her only solace is the people she can interact with in the castle. Her children are little spots of sunlight in this uncertainty, her uncle is the righteous anger she doesn’t have it in her to feel, her guard is a token bit of the safety she is looking for, and Jaime is the man drowning next to her.

There is something deeply tragic to her about how little the man in the Red Keep with her resembles the Jaimes of her memory. There are only shadows of the cherub she met when she was young and of the golden knight Arthur saw great potential in. The Jaime she interacts with now is a man who is fully aware that he is a hostage. Someone struggling with maturity because they have not been allowed to grow into it, but has been forced to become mature out of a lack of options. Someone who is also waiting for the day they might be worth more dead than alive.

Aside from wanting to be away from Aerys whenever he could, that sense of kinship makes Jaime seek her out. She frequently takes her children into the gardens for an excuse for a guard and always says yes to Jaime when he offered his assistance. For a moment, they would all bask in the sun and pretend they were here because they wanted to be and not because they were forced to be.

Her heart aches as she watches the three of them. Rhaenys is puddled in Jaime’s lap, napping with her torso across his thighs. Aegon is asleep in his arms while holding a fistful of the man’s tunic. Jaime looks like he is remembering that softness still exists in the world. “They like you,” she whispers.

“I like them.” Jaime runs his fingers down her daughter’s back. Rhaenys smacks her lips before continuing to drool on Jaime’s pant leg. “Elia, if I could, I would give me life so that you and your children could be free.”

“I don’t want that. They wouldn’t want that.” She crawls over to Jaime’s side, something she only allows herself to do because there is no one else here. She reaches out to touch Jaime’s shoulder and says, “Jaime we like you. We want you to be around. Freedom that came at the cost of your life would cost too much.”

\+ Lyanna

She is vaguely aware of the only daughter of House Stark. She made it a point to remember all the daughters of the noble houses of Dorne and all the daughters of the Great Houses. The two easiest alliances for a woman to make were through marriage and through friendship, so she always made a note of potential friends.

Still she is only vaguely aware of Lyanna Stark because the girl is someone she doesn’t expected to interact with. Not only was the north worlds away from Dorne but both regions were moderately removed from Westerosi politics. On top of that, Lyanna was a decade younger than her. It wouldn’t be impossible to befriend the girl but it seemed unlikely.

She doesn’t truly know things about Lyanna Stark until her attention is forcibly put on the girl. Though, to say she is forced to pay attention to Lyanna is a lie. If she had wanted to, she could have remained in willful ignorance about the girl. She could have buried her head in the sand and pretend that some faceless nobody had gotten her husband’s attention.

She is pretty sure it is morbid curiosity that causes her to search for information on Lyanna Stark. A dreadful urge to know information that might have helped her before but was totally useless now. An unforgiving need to know who the other woman was.

There is a sense of tragedy in learning who Lyanna Stark is. In learning that the girl was unrepentantly brash. In learning that she like horses and horseback riding. In finding out that the girl was kind and unafraid to confront others when they were wrong. In finding out that she loved her brothers. In discovering that Lyanna was moved to tears by Rhaegar’s melancholic music. In discovering that under the tough mask of a wild girl, there was someone who also seemed to be a romantic at heart. Because she finds herself thinking, _in another life and under different circumstances we may have been friends._


End file.
